What Many Preppers and Survivalists Continue to Neglect

A lot of the prepper survivalist community focuses on one-time catastrophes that have a very low percentage of ever happening, while somewhat neglecting prepping for the everyday challenges of life, and the far more likely larger disruption coming from a car engine that blows, or a similar event.

After all, what will it help if we have 50 guns and enough ammo to hold off a small army if we can’t get around because of a car breaking down to the point of costing more than we have available to fix?

While it’s vital to prepare for a potential major disruption, it’s more important to have the ability to deal with the everyday things that when added together, can turn into big things. You know when that’s happening the feeling of being overwhelmed starts to hit you and there doesn’t seem to be any answers.

The reason for that is one thing after another is breaking down or happening, to the point you lose focus on dealing with one thing at a time, and instead, look at the overall issues as a whole. In other words, we lose focus because of the emotion that comes from not being able to take care of everything at once, which usually makes it worse because we give up and let thing go.

Just like if we get too far into debt with credit and store cards, among other things, we need to develop a strategy of working on one part of the debt at a time in order to give the sense of making progress, and in fact paying it down quickly enough to make a difference in our finances in the near term.

So it is with all other areas of life. We have to be careful to not put things off too long, otherwise another problem will inevitably arise and increase the pressure on us. Over time that can cause to reach a breaking point, producing a helpless feeling within us, which then can cause us to procrastinate in dealing with what we have to face.

Some solutions

Don’t procrastinate

I’ve learned in my life to not allow myself to put things off for a prolonged period of time. Instead, when I have time available I’ll start to work on the problem as quickly as I can so I don’t allow myself to think in terms of doing it at another time.

It’s getting easier and easier to deal with my everyday life as I’ve responded to things that need to be done as quickly as I’m able to, without producing a sense of never having control because I’m all over the place with my thoughts and concerns over what needs to be taken care of.

Procrastination is like adding a little weight to ourselves as we live from day-to-day, with the end result eventually leading to hopelessness and the perceived inability to be able to deal with what life hands us. Taking care of little things consistently takes most of that off us.

Shrinking debt and saving money

Another key thing to think about is eliminating debt as quickly as possible, and continue to put money away into a savings account that is for the sole purpose of dealing with emergency situations.

It’s amazing how much stress is relieved when the money is available to pay for something that breaks or is needed.

Another things related to this is when we buy higher priced items, such as a riding lawn mower, computer, appliances, or other similar equipment, be sure to pay extra for accident protection. This goes a long way toward peace of mind, and it helps protect your savings from being put under pressure when it doesn’t need to be.

I’ve been out of long-term debt for over two decades, and only acquire larger items using short-term debt I don’t have to pay interest on. And if I did need to buy something large because of it breaking, I would dedicate my available capital to paying it off very quickly; usually before six months are over.

Savings should be kept for a couple of big things. The first would be if you lose your job or income from a business and need some time to find a job or other income stream to live on. The second purpose would be to buy or fix a vehicle because of it breaking down.

Another thought that goes against the grain of a lot of people is to live in an apartment. The reason why would be to protect yourself from a major repair hitting you that drains your savings. I understand a lot of people won’t accept this, but for a lot of people it’s definitely something to consider as you’re building up your savings.

Once you have your finances lined up, then it would be safer to buy a home if that’s what you want. As many readers know, if you’re handy, you can buy a piece of land and work on building a home over time. You could live in a mobile home while doing the work. They’re fairly cheap to buy when used.

You get the idea. We can be creative and lower our risk to a financial set back remaining or working toward being debt free, with enough money put aside to pay for most major things that may come our way.

Finally, we can buy quality used things like furniture or a bed if we need to. I’ve found if you know the people you’re buying from, and you have a reputation for being honest, many times they’ll allow you to make payments, and depending on their needs or wants, be willing to trade you for it.

Just get creative and think outside the box. There are many answer to problems that don’t necessarily require a lot of cash.

Major prepper needs

Very few people can prepare for major disruptions in their lives when they’re just starting off in life or starting over. The key there is to once again think small, and build up various protections that will help you in emergency situations of all sizes.

If you have little, start with small tools or outdoor equipment that you can use in smaller emergencies. Gradually add what you need when you have the money, such as an air compressor for you car tires, or maybe a small generator that can work with a freezer or refrigerator to preserve food if the power goes out.

The key to having the ability to handle major emergency situations is to build up from the ground up with a variety of items that deal with different circumstances or events. As you build up your survival arsenal over time, eventually, through a series of acquisitions or trades, you have the ability to face almost anything that comes your way.

Conclusion

As with most areas of life, think and start small on the practical side of prepping and survival, with the end goal of having most the tools, food, water and firearms to protect yourself and your family when disasters strike.

I know some worry because they think of what will happen if a major event happens before they’re fully ready for it. The answer is whatever prepping you’ve done, you’ll be far better prepared than most other people around you.

That’s why you build up each part of what you need at the same time. In other words, you don’t buy and arsenal of guns and not have some food, water or medical supplies stored away. What you can do is buy one gun, put aside some food and water, buy a smaller medical kit for basics, and then once that’s in place, add to each category, building it up until you reach our preparation and survival goals.

It takes a little longer to prep this way, but if something does happen before you’re fully prepared, you’ll have the resources to deal with it a lot better than if you have only once piece of the survival puzzle in place.